Getting Off Track
by Stariceling
Summary: A series of short stories for each possible pair of the six main stations, either light romance or friendship. Expect a lot of fluff, a little humor, and a few kisses along the way. Current: ShinShio, ShinTou, RyouShio
1. Shinjuku Shiodome

Because I'm just _a little_ in love with this series right now: I have a crazy plan! I want to try writing a little something (at least 100 words) for each possible pair of the six main stations! Some of these may be light yaoi (male/male romance), some will be brotherly love, and most will probably dance the line in between. These stories won't have to take place in any particular order, so you can just go look for your favorite pairs if you like!

Last warning: If you really don't like the idea of the personifications of train stations snuggling each other, this isn't the fic for you. Please direct your attention to another fic and enjoy the rest of your day!

For those who are still here: Please enjoy! I hope to bring you more chapters soon!

* * *

"Won't you let me ease your mind, little kitten?"

A single finger curled under Shinjuku's chin, lifting his face until he was looking into a pair of smoldering blue eyes. Just the sly hint of a smile curled around the speaker's lips, inviting him to play along. Shinjuku found himself transfixed to watch those lips soften and part. The desire to answer those come-hither eyes by pulling their owner closer flashed through his mind.

Shiodome suddenly withdrew his hand from Shinjuku's chin. His sultry expression broke into a playful grin, shattering the mood in an instant.

"Like that?"

Shinjuku put one hand over his face, annoyed at how quickly Shiodome had broken his play-acting, but even more embarrassed at his own reaction. "Not cool at all," he muttered between his fingers.

"Shinjuku-san! Don't be so mean!" Shiodome cried, lunging forward and bracing both hands on Shinjuku's knees. "I'm trying to be more like you!"

That earnest, upset face was too close and too cute. Shinjuku smiled, unable to help himself. "You and I aren't very similar," he reminded Shiodome

"Yeah, but. . ." Shiodome pressed his lips together for a second in an unhappy almost-frown that Shinjuku wanted to smooth off of his expressive face. "Fine."

Shiodome thumped down in the seat beside Shinjuku, pointedly looking away. He had his hands braced in his own lap now, his legs stretched out in front of him. Even without being able to see his expression, it was obvious every inch of Shiodome's body was thrown into his pout.

That sort of reaction only made Shinjuku want to tease him properly. Shiodome always reacted so strongly, going from cheerful to depressed and back again with just a few words. Shinjuku pretended to ignore Shiodome's pout as he relaxed back in his seat, but it would have been impossible to leave him alone so easily.

With one casual move, Shinjuku stretched his arm around Shiodome's back, letting his hand hang down against Shiodome's shoulder. When Shiodome didn't respond to the touch, Shinjuku looked over again and found he was slouching in the seat now. His posture had shifted from sulking to one of quiet hurt.

With a sigh, Shinjuku gently gripped Shiodome's shoulder. He couldn't not reassure the younger station.

"It's part of your charm that you're not like me, Shiodome-kun," he explained. "Just having your company makes everyone more at ease."

Everyone but him, it seemed. Shiodome could be so enthusiastic and sweet, but sometimes even his smile only served to make Shinjuku's heart lurch and race. Sometimes his stomach would clench with the unexpected urge to take Shiodome into his arms. Just. . . just to tease him, and ruffle his soft hair, and touch. . . .

Shiodome still had his face turned away, looking down at Shinjuku's hand gripping his shoulder. Shinjuku caught him by the chin, turning Shiodome's face so that they were eye-to-eye once again.

"Such a melancholy expression doesn't belong on your beautiful face," he purred, slipping away from the more casual reassurances he might have usually given. "Allow me to take it away."

The expression that passed over Shiodome's face was truly beautiful. For just a second there was a warmth in his eyes that said the flirtatious words had gone right to his head. Then, in what was almost certainly a conscious effort, he hardened his soft face against Shinjuku's smile.

"You're teasing me again."

Shifting his hand to dent Shiodome's stubborn lower lip with his thumb, Shinjuku spoke each word with a deliberate gravity.

"I am not teasing you."

Shiodome flushed. He dropped his gaze and made a breathless little noise in this throat, even as his mouth opened against the press of Shinjuku's thumb. Shinjuku could feel Shiodome's jaw trembling in his hand. That gave him reason to pause. He hadn't meant to scare or confuse Shiodome, but the wide-eyed look Shiodome darted at him told him he had.

He was going to far. To purr honeyed flattery at Shiodome as if he were a guest was bad enough, but when would it even be appropriate to touch a guest like this? Shinjuku dropped his hand. He tried to cover the sudden retreat by giving Shiodome a one-armed hug instead.

"I'm trying to tell you, you don't have to try and be more like anyone else. You are you." Shinjuku said forcefully, over Shiodome's confused murmur of, "Shinjuku-san?"

Shiodome pulled back, looking at him with suspicion. He probably still thought he was being teased. Shinjuku could only give him an indulgent smile.

"I like you the way you are. Even if it means putting up with your childish antics." Shinjuku couldn't help throwing in the last comment. Shiodome so obviously expected it.

"I'm not childish!"

"It's just like a child to deny it."

"Shinjuku-san, you never take me seriously!" Shiodome cried. In spite of his protest, his temper was back to normal. That was enough to make Shinjuku happy.

It wasn't exactly that Shiodome was childish–not the same way a human child was childish–but there was still a sort of newness about him. He was bright and lively. He glowed as if his face could catch the light like the clean silver and white that decorated his station. He hadn't lost that in the years since his first opening, and it was unbearable that he might lose it now.

For Shiodome to become more like him. . . Shinjuku rejected the way that one sultry look had frozen him on the spot. More than anything, he didn't want Shiodome to change. If simply touching Shiodome too fervently might be too much, then he wouldn't touch. He would have done anything to preserve that brightness around Shiodome.

Shiodome had that easy smile back on his face. He had dropped the subject so quickly once he was reassured. Shinjuku took that as his sign that it was the right thing not to let Shiodome change.


	2. Shinjuku Toucho

A second pairing to enjoy. I really like the relationship between our two eldest stations, yaoi and otherwise! A friend of mine actually requested one of the themes in this fic, and these two immediately sprang to mind! Too bad she hasn't watched Miracle Train yet...

If you don't remember, the Ring of Light is the art piece in Toucho station.

* * *

Shinjuku had taken himself into the next car to work on his report in peace. At least, that was what he had said he was doing. Toucho wasn't surprised to find Shinjuku relaxing by himself, with no indication that he had written a single word on their latest passenger.

It was a simple enough case, one where the guest had only needed the time to think through her problem calmly. It certainly shouldn't have left Shinjuku at a loss for words and yet there he was, staring into space. He only roused enough to look around as Toucho let the door slide closed behind him.

"I thought you might come for me," he greeted.

"I only need your report. Our next guest isn't expected to arrive until some time during the evening rush hour."

"Well, if that's all you're interested in. . ."

Shinjuku trailed off, as if he was already bored with the subject. Something was off about his tone, and there was a subtle hint of a frown that would have been invisible if Toucho hadn't known his partner so well. Whatever Shinjuku was thinking about, it could be serious. Serious enough for him to take himself away from everyone's company while he thought about it, Toucho realized.

Had something about their last guest bothered him? Toucho couldn't remember anything that might have troubled Shinjuku. He had seemed to be getting along happily with their guest before. Besides that, Shinjuku wasn't given to moping and had always bounced back quickly when he was rejected.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Toucho stopped to look at the schedule on his clipboard again, even though he already knew he had plenty of time to spare for Shinjuku.

"If there is anything you would like to discuss before putting it in an official report, I am more than willing to listen."

"Just what I expected from our leader."

"Excuse me?" His firm sense of duty warred with a sudden irritation at the idea that Shijnuku brushing him off. Toucho crossed to where Shinjuku was sitting, pushing his glasses into the bridge of his nose until it hurt.

Shinjuku just gave him an unreadable look. Toucho was about ready to excuse himself from the car entirely when Shinjuku spoke again.

"You're always looking after us, as well as the guests. Can't you ever take some time for yourself?"

"I have as much time to myself as I need." If Shinjuku wanted time to relax by himself that would be permissible, but why couldn't he just come out and say it?

"I don't mean when you go clean The Ring of Light every day."

"Then what are you talking about?"

Shinjuku sighed and rose gracefully to his feet, one hand coming up to brush Toucho's cheek. The next thing he knew Shinjuku had hooked one finger over the bridge of his glasses and was gently tugging them off.

Toucho was too started by the boldness of it to even try to grab his glasses back. Shinjuku's other hand was touching his face in the next moment, one long finger rubbing over the bare bridge of his nose.

"You press on them so hard you've left marks here," Shinjuku murmured.

With an impatient swipe, Toucho brushed those elegant fingers away from his face. This was not the time for Shinjuku's games. "Are you going to tell me what you're after or not?"

"Pardon me, but you've been at my side since the day we opened. I didn't realize there was anything I could keep secret from you."

Shinjuku's meddlesome hand was cupping his cheek again, but Toucho couldn't find it in him to care this time. Not with the feeling of lips pressed firmly against his blotting everything else out of his mind. Shinjuku's firm kiss was insistent and hot, rather than seductive. Even if he'd been given time to think about it, Toucho couldn't have expected such a demanding opening from his usually laid-back partner.

It seemed to take forever just to jerk himself back from that kiss.

"Stop that! It's still the middle of the work day," he snapped.

"Can't you ever take time for anything other than work?"

"Not in the middle of the day!" There were a hundred reasons he could have given why Shinjuku's current behavior was not okay, ranging from being ready for their next guest to Shinjuku's untouched report to what if the younger stations saw them. . . but Shinjuku's finger flicking delicately across his lower lip reminded him that none of those reasons would deter Shinjuku for longer than a few hours.

"Fair enough. Nighttime is for lovers after all."

Shinjuku made an elaborate gesture of using both hands to replace Toucho's glasses, sliding them back into place with the utmost care while Toucho glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that, or I'll have to wipe that frown off of your face," he warned. With that parting shot he took himself back into the front car, leaving Toucho alone.

Toucho took a few deep breaths to collect his thoughts, then reached up to push his glasses tight against his face once more. They were going to need a few more ground rules if Shinjuku wanted to try and play games like that during work.


	3. Ryougoku Shiodome

Well, it took me longer than I wanted to get back on this, but here I am again! For these too I just wanted to write something cute and fluffy, since I think they both have such energy. I might like to re-visit this pairing at some point, since I'm not sure I hit the full potential for this pair, but for now at least I can offer a cute moment.

* * *

"Weren't you watching this one yesterday?"

Shiodome swung on the handle he was holding with both hands, rocking from heels to toes as he tried to get a better look over Ryougoku's shoulder. It certainly looked like he was watching the same drama, even the same episode, from the day before.

Ryougoku was sitting sideways on the seat with his legs crossed, hands on the knees, with the laptop open in front of him. It didn't look like the most comfortable position, but he got so intense about his historical dramas sometimes Shiodome wondered if he even cared about comfort.

"Yeah!" Ryougoku confirmed. "You have to watch it at least twice if you want to pick up every detail."

"Oh. I thought it might be because we were distracting you before."

Yesterday had been something of a mess. The argument of what was allowed on the Miracle Train (in spite of the rules set out for the rest of the Oedo line) was normal at this point, but then Tsukishima's oil had been spilled, and Shiodome had managed to slip on it, and it had been lucky the laptop wasn't broken after he'd knocked it to the floor when he fell. No one had been happy with the result. Shiodome had ended up with a sore backside and a bruised elbow, while Ryougoku missed the rest of his program and Toucho actually won an argument against contraband for once. Shiodome had thought he should apologize for his part in the whole fiasco, but it didn't seem Ryougoku had even noticed the inconvenience.

Shiodome let go of the handle, meaning to stop hanging over Ryougoku. Unfortunately he managed to time that just as the train hit one of the sudden curves on the track, knocking him off balance.

In the time it took him to yelp, Ryougoku had seized the front of his vest, pulling him forward so that he fell against a solid chest instead of backwards onto the floor.

"I got you this time!" Ryougoku cheered.

"Ah. . . Thanks."

Shiodome smiled up at Ryougoku's face, but when he tried to stand he found Ryougoku had snaked one arm around him to hold him firmly in place. His other hand had released Shiodome's vest to slip under his knees, gathering him more firmly into the lap he was already half-sprawled across.

"Um. . . You can let me up," Shiodome said.

He squirmed, trying unsuccessfully to get back to his feet. With frustrating ease Ryougoku settled him so that they were back-to-chest. His butt was planted directly between Ryougoku's crossed legs, which had shifted to accommodate him. His legs were still draped on either side of Ryougoku's knee. Ryougoku's arm was wrapped tight around his chest now, holding him firmly in place. Sitting like that felt odd, but there was no question it a lot better than landing on the floor.

"I think you'd better stay here for a while." Ryougoku grinned down at him. "Here! I'll go back so you can watch from the beginning with me!"

Shiodome was not interested in watching the drama, but after his first surprise there wasn't much incentive to try and squirm away, either. Being held in Ryougoku's arms and his lap was surprisingly comfortable. More than comfortable enough to stay as he was, with his hands folded over Ryougoku's larger hand for as long as the older station held him.


	4. Roppongi Ryougoku

Really sorry to have disappeared for so long. I forgot I hadn't uploaded this chapter as well. Some hurt/comfort between Rop/Ryou. Maybe it's morbid, but I wondered what would happen if there was a suicide or accident in one of their stations. So yeah, off-screen death mentioned here.

* * *

If he had wanted to put it in words later he might have said it was like being struck by lightning. Even for him, putting the feeling honestly in words was impossible. The feeling of impact hit his whole body at once, without warning, knocking the breath out of him as the whole world went black.

When the world around him came back into focus he found that he had stumbled, instinctively bracing himself on a pillar for support. He heard someone on the nearby platform scream, the sound of it oddly belated. The words were distorted by his dizziness.

It was already over, that sharp feeling of blackness and pain. And yet Ryougoku oriented towards the source of the sick feeling and the rising tide of sound. He was too close to reason the morbid need to know out of his head.

* * *

They didn't even realize that something was wrong until they went looking for Ryogoku. The Miracle Train wasn't impacted by delays along the normal lines, so it wasn't until they visited the missing station and saw one of his platforms was closed off to deal with an 'accident' that they knew something like that had happened.

"Is he helping?" Shiodome wondered, and took a few steps towards the closed platform before Shinjuku caught him and dragged him back.

"We're going to check around the entrances," he said shortly, keeping one arm tight around the smaller boy's shoulders to hold him.

"I'll see if he's with the clean up crew," Toucho announced, taking responsibility for the area they all knew none of them wanted to enter. "You two check the other platforms."

Roppongi could only nod, his throat too tight to speak. They always felt the shock when something drastic happened in one of their stations, but usually it was dulled by being on board the Miracle Train, outside of normal space. If Ryougoku was here at the time, how much could that shock have hurt him?

He was startled by Tsukishima's hand on his shoulder, not realizing until then that he had been standing frozen.

"Someone should wait on the train for him, in case he goes back."

Roppongi recognized that he was being given a way out, his friend probably thinking he was too shocked and upset by this turn of events to search, and he was upset, but he would do his part anyway. He was worried about Ryougoku too. He had to do what he could.

"The conductor is there," he pointed out. He would surely know to keep Ryougoku on the train until the rest of them came back.

"Then you take the outbound platforms, and I'll take the inbound." And between them they would have to find him.

Roppongi had hoped that if Ryougoku was on any of the platforms in his assigned area he would be easy to spot, but there was no sign of the affected station. The more Roppongi searched, the more he began to think there was little chance of finding Ryougoku here. Why would he be walking up and down his station like normal, watching over the guests who couldn't see him, after a shock like that?

If he wasn't on the scene, and he hadn't come back to them for help, where would he go? Roppongi deviated from his planned search pattern to check the unused corners of the station, the places where people didn't normally go. Those were the farthest edges Ryougoku would be able to retreat to without a guest.

It was in one of the service tunnels that he finally found Ryougoku. The usually energetic and outspoken station was leaning against the dusty wall with his head down, as far as the invisible bond tying them to their duty would allow him to go. Roppongi hesitated to see him like that, not knowing what to do.

He considered going back to get the others–surely between the five of them they could do something–but he couldn't get his body to take a single step away from his friend. He couldn't even take his eyes from Ryougoku now that he had found him, for fear that leaving him alone would allow him to disappear again.

Roppongi moved closer step by careful step, until he was standing right in front of Ryougoku, close enough that the proximity of the barrier made his skin prickle and his hair stand on end. He didn't know what to say. There didn't seem to be a thing he could say that would make anything better.

All he could do was reach out, touch his hand to Ryougoku's shoulder, and let the other man's eyes rise to his face.

"Don-"

"Don't say it."

Ryougoku grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him close. Roppongi wasn't used to touching, or hugging, but he could feel Ryougoku shaking against him. He went silent, reaching to stroke the back of Ryougoku's head and neck, over and over, because comfort wasn't just the words and smiles they offered their guests.

There were no words for this. Ryougoku took a stab at it with a few things that would not have been appropriate around the guests, but Roppongi didn't say anything in return. He leaned closer, bringing their bodies flush together, and tried to absorb some of the grief and pain wracking his friend. He wanted to tell Ryougoku that he knew this helpless feeling, knew how wrong it felt not being able to help everyone. He felt the same in his desperate need to comfort Ryougoku.

They stayed like that, holding each other in silence, until Tsukishima found them. Even once they have been ushered back to the train by the other stations, Roppongi didn't let go, determined to offer all of the comfort he could give.


End file.
